Floods threaten to submerge UP villages
Incessant rainfall in the mountains of Uttarakhand and Nepal have flooded the major rivers of eastern Uttar Pradesh Ghaghra, Rapti and Saryu, threatening to submerge hundreds of villages.
With the water level of Saryu and Ghaghra maintaining the rising trend creating many breaches on their banks, about a dozen of villages were flooded in Barabanki district.
A senior administrative officer said in the past, Ghaghra and Saryu never flooded due to rains but this time, the main reason behind the two rivers overflowing is the release of water from Nepal’s Bambasa and Girijapuri dams at regular intervals.
“Flood water has engulfed about three dozen villages in Balrampur district alone,” district magistrate Arvind Diwedi said.
In Ayodhya, Saryu river is flowing 92 points above the danger level and in Barabanki about 2,000 are homeless due to flood.
Meanwhile, twenty-two people trapped in flash floods in Kathua and Jammu districts today were safely rescued by police and locals, officials said.
“After a three-hour-long operation, 22 people trapped in Kathua and Jammu have been safely rescued by police and locals,” an official said.
Of the 22 people rescued, 15 were trapped in Kathua and seven in Jammu district, he said. Meanwhile, a flash flood alert has been sounded in Jammu region, where intermittent overnight rains resulted in the flooding of rivers, officials said.
Water level in Chenab, Tawi, Ujh and Basantar rivers are nearing the danger mark, they said, adding that people living in low-lying areas have been alerted and warned of flash floods.
They have also been asked to keep away from banks of the flooded rivers.
